The Black Heart of Lylat
by Ebon Wolf X
Summary: My first fanfiction in a while, and my first Star Fox fanfiction. In this somewhat short story, government conspiracies will be exposed within Lylat, producing questions in Fox McCloud's mind about Lylat's leaders. Rated PG-13 for possible later events.


Prologue  
  
Fox glanced away from his laptop for a second, then uneasily looked back at the laptop. He tapped lazily at the keys with his fur covered, ungloved hands. The vulpine Lylatian was not currently wearing his jacket. He had no reason to. He was not currently on a mission, and from the looks of it he never would be.  
  
Continuously he typed out, on said laptop, a log entry. Nearly every day for the past several years he keyed one into existence. But it was fast becoming repetitive. He thought, after Krystal had joined them and they had completed the mission on Dinosaur Planet, that things would have gotten a lot livelier. Now, it seemed as though General Pepper had no use whatsoever for the mercenary team. It was so strange. Forgotten, lost adrift in space. Boredom had quickly engulfed the crew.  
  
"Damn it! Why hasn't General Pepper contacted us at all? We hear no news at all about Corneria anymore! So much for all that money, fame, glory.We don't even exist!" Falco cried out, as per usual annoyed at the constant boredom. The bird normally wore a black jacket with matching boots and pants and a white shirt underneath, as well as black boots.  
  
"Quiet, Falco. I've known Pepper for years. Something will happen and he'll call us. Evil is never destroyed, after all!" Peppy, dressed in an off-white jacket with a red uniform underneath it. The rabbit was indeed the wisest one of the team, but he could be wrong in this case. You never know.  
  
"Shut up you two! I can't concentrate on checking ROB's circuitry!" Now that was unusual for Slippy, Fox thought. Considering Slippy usually was not this irritable, and in reality was the team's most wimpy member. Heck, another member of the team ALWAYS had to help Slippy out of some kind of a dilemma. Yes, Slippy was quite a burden.And currently; the rock music was bursting into everyone else's ears. Eardrums were completely shattered by missiles of earsplitting sound waves. Brains were thrown off track. Fur flew off in several directions, as well as feathers.  
  
And that's when a certain female walked into the room.  
  
The door behind Fox shifted open with an incredible speed as a blue vixen-Krystal-stepped into the room. Clad only in her loincloth and bra, (something the writer feels embarrassed mentioning, as he is one who tries to ignore his hormones) she turned her currently bloodshot light blue eyes towards the offending jukebox. Rushing over to the instrument of horror, she quickly and easily turned it off, to Slippy's dismay. She then shook her head to regain her senses, and looked back at everyone else in the room. Falco just muttered to himself, while sitting in his chair. Peppy took one look at Krystal, narrowed his eyes, and scolded her about what she was wearing. "Put on more clothes, you little.When I was young, the girls I knew never wore that sort of clothing, no sir! That's including the one's I dated! I-"  
  
"Pfff, whatever you old rabbit. It was a tradition on Cerenia for the females to wear such clothing. The jewelry's standard too, as well as the footwear. We didn't have much contact with the outside world, until my planet was destroyed." She sighed to herself, aggravated with Peppy. He just does not understand! She thought.  
  
Krystal revived a smile onto her face, and went over to Fox. Fox was currently staring at his laptop, one tongue hanging out. His mind was, obviously, out on a little vacation. And Krystal was going to make sure that vacation was cut short.  
  
She already knew what would work. Krystal slowly walked over to the member of the opposite gender, and looked down at him. Then, she slowly reached out a hand, and gently grabbed him by the chin. She then, cautiously lifted up his face towards her own. Suddenly, Fox blinked a few times, withdrew his tongue, and with a look of shock turned his head back towards the screen for a minute, shook his head several times, and looked back up at Krystal.  
  
"Good morning, Fox." Krystal said, with a kind of smile on her face. Fox sheepishly grinned back. "Sorry that Slippy woke you up. That was strange for him. But you did sleep later than usual.And you still look sleepy. "  
  
"I'm fine Fox. Really."  
  
"Okay, if you're sure."  
  
"I am, Fox. I'm just tired from all this."  
  
Krystal could tell that Fox didn't believe her. There could be something wrong with me, but I don't think so. she thought.  
  
The laptop suddenly bleeped a few times. An email? Fox thought to himself. He then checked the messages sent to his laptop. There was one from General Pepper himself!  
  
"The email was from General Pepper. He wants us to head back to Corneria, but he didn't mention why."  
  
"Finally!" Falco shouted. "We get a job!"  
  
I wonder if its actually a job, or what.I have a feeling its more than that. This bothered Fox's mind to no end.  
---  
A black furred wolf wearing a dark blue uniform with silver boots and gloves and a black jacket quickly walked down the cold hearted, lonely metallic walls. Endlessly stretching throughout the world, it seemed. Dim, flickering lights provided the only light. It reflected Colonel Ebon Lupus Dracos' soul. He was forbidden to use it as long as he remained here.  
  
Why was he even here? Blackmail. Fear. The fear of death. Not of his own, but someone he loved. Now, he was sworn to secrecy.  
  
If he got out of this alive, he would not stay in Lylat. He'd go somewhere else. Somewhere more peaceful, and with less of a dark side. Perhaps there's another solar system out there like that. Who knew? No one. Ebon had to cast that hope out of his very inner being. His heart was lost.  
  
He stood in front of the door at the end of the eternal hallway. It looked just like the wall, except for the windows. This area was quite restricted.  
  
He pressed the button on the intercom to the side.  
  
"Colonel Dracos, reporting sir."  
  
"You may enter." Responded a masculine voice. The sliding door was then opened, and Ebon walked towards the desk at the other end. The room was much better lit, and resembled an office without windows. The floor was a dark blue carpet for some strange reason, and behind a wooden desk sat an older raven. His fur was off-white, and his large eyes a unsettling yellow. Ebon saluted his superior.  
  
"Ah," the raven responded. "So you are Colonel Dracos? I was expecting a reptile of some sort, caw haw haw! Forgetting that, if you haven't figured out by now, I am General Rave Rallick. There is no need to tell me anything, I know all about your situation. I've heard many good things about you from everyone. Seems you come from a long family line of officers, yes? Hah, I see that you want to say something. But you shall not speak unless I tell you to. You are now second-in-command of this special operation, Colonel, and you shall make sure everything is running smoothly and properly. You will also make sure this facility is well protected, and that information about this operation isn't leaked out. One word, and we could be completely screwed, Colonel. The citizens of the Lylatian planets should never know about this, that was what we were told. It is an order I will gladly follow without any complaints. Besides, I have nothing to loose. You on the other hand? If you disobey ANY of my orders, just one, even if its to not BREATHE, you will loose your friends, your family, and your SWEETHEART! Is that clear?" the raven's voice suddenly went back to normal, his expression calmed. "I expect good things to come from this, and you can decide the fate of Lylat. You fail your mission, and it's complete anarchy, that's what the commander-in-chief told me. You got that? You are dismissed, Colonel." 


End file.
